Restorative practices refers to everyday behaviors and facilitated processes that demonstrate and inspire meaningful, compassionate, and inclusive connections with others, both at an individual and a community level. The foundation of restorative practices is a restorative mindset, which means seeing others as whole and worthy individuals, capable of good and deserving of positive relationships. A major focus in restorative practices is on community-building and repairing harm.  Restorative practices can take different forms – for example, restorative conferencing, restorative chats, talking circles, and other practices. In restorative practices, the key is that individual voices are being heard. People speak their truth in a space without judgment or bias, without titles or hierarchies. Many restorative practices draw from dispute resolution traditions that have been used historically in cultures and communities across the globe.

Restorative justice, part of the broader restorative practices field, describes an approach used specifically when someone has committed an offense. Implementing restorative justice means validating the experiences of people harmed while creating accountability for individuals who caused harm. Like restorative practices more broadly, restorative justice processes are used as alternatives to court-based processes and other disciplinary procedures (see interview below). Among restorative justice practitioners, there is often a focus on restoring relationships at a systemic level – e.g., combatting racism and other kinds of marginalization - and on advocacy for systems change.

To understand how restorative work is implemented on the ground, OCDR recently interviewed Dr. Sabrina Edwards, who is the Senior Student Services Officer at Hiawatha Academies, a network of charter schools in Minnesota. Dr. Edwards’ portfolio includes restorative practices. She is also the board chair at the Dispute Resolution Center in Saint Paul.

How did you come to do restorative practices and restorative justice work?

I am always on a journey of both learning and unlearning. I always practiced this growing up in the communities I was with, interacting with family, doing community work. We followed restorative practice principles.

What is your experience working with restorative practices and restorative justice?

In one of my academic roles, the stated mission was to dismantle systemic inequities. But [the schools] were disciplining students using old systems and parameters, like pulling kids from classrooms and expelling them from school for infractions. My colleagues and I decided we wanted to make changes. I engaged the school psychologist, social worker, teaching staff, and campus leadership so we could incorporate different lenses. We looked at policies and practices and district-level change and tried to align with [restorative] values. One of the key goals of this work was to shift the adult mindset from punishment to reflective learning. In return, this created frequent opportunities for students to reflect on their mistakes, be accountable, and apologize for their actions/make things right. [After implementing a school-wide restorative approach], we saw a 59% reduction in suspensions in one of our buildings and a 72% reduction in another.

What changes have you seen in the restorative landscape over the past five years?

In past five years, RP has exploded. Especially in post-George Floyd Minnesota, there were a lot of schoolwide healing circles dealing with the harms to the community. Recently, the discussion has been elevated. Now there’s new legislation passed about a statewide Office of Restorative Practices. I have never seen the conversation happening on this scale.

What else would you like to share?

A restorative approach is a journey and takes time. To do this well in schools, you need to improve relationships between staff and staff, between students and students, between students and staff, and between schools and families. It has to be a whole district endeavor. There will be mistakes. There will be authentic conversations. Sometimes there will be tears. But no matter who you are, you can come on this journey and be in community with others.